March 3, 2012 - integration day for SHARES res. system.
Jan 10, 2012, 6:29 pm
#331
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You keep saying 10x as long for a rebook. Could someone with actual working knowledge of both systems confirm this?
Jan 10, 2012, 6:31 pm
#332
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Back to the original topic of this thread, traveling on March 3. I have two questions:
1. Can anyone confirm that that is still the planned cut-over date?
2. How many of you will be traveling on that day? (It's a Saturday)
Perhaps its an opportunity for the voucher collectors to book a 6-segment mileage run and hope for the worst.
1. Can anyone confirm that that is still the planned cut-over date?
2. How many of you will be traveling on that day? (It's a Saturday)
Perhaps its an opportunity for the voucher collectors to book a 6-segment mileage run and hope for the worst.
Jan 10, 2012, 6:43 pm
#333
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That really seems a little long. The few times I've been rebooked by CO gate agents (about 5 times in the past year), I have waited at the counter anywhere from 3 to 45 minutes as they worked to change the reservation and reissue the ticket. But the plural of anecdote is not data!
Jan 10, 2012, 6:55 pm
#334
Join Date: Aug 2010
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If an overlay were important to CO, why was it not put on last year? Two years ago? A decade ago?
Fastair is 10+ years old. Delta has been using Deltamatic for who knows how long, and even US has had their overlay on their SHARES for quite a while as well.
My point is if an overlay were a priority for CO, something would have been in place long before the merger.
Fastair is 10+ years old. Delta has been using Deltamatic for who knows how long, and even US has had their overlay on their SHARES for quite a while as well.
My point is if an overlay were a priority for CO, something would have been in place long before the merger.
Jan 10, 2012, 6:56 pm
#335
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
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But define normal. Even many of the basic tasks require several times more keystrokes and effort on SHARES than Fastair. IRROPS is just one of the better examples because there are usually a few steps involved (e.g., querying flights, selling flights, revalidating/reissuing tickets, checkin in).
There is lots of room for this to be a disaster given the type of system being used.
Agreed...we will all find out. My point is that we should be concerned, very concerned.
I would really love to be wrong about all of this, but given what I've seen, and what I have been told nearly universally by a number of UA GAs -- to beware, not to fly on or around the transition time, and that CS levels will deteriorate simply because of the system, I'm worried.
There is lots of room for this to be a disaster given the type of system being used.
Agreed...we will all find out. My point is that we should be concerned, very concerned.
I would really love to be wrong about all of this, but given what I've seen, and what I have been told nearly universally by a number of UA GAs -- to beware, not to fly on or around the transition time, and that CS levels will deteriorate simply because of the system, I'm worried.
Since my wife and I will be travelling in early March back from the Caribbean, we will keep our fingers crossed!
Jan 10, 2012, 6:57 pm
#336
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Back to the original topic of this thread, traveling on March 3. I have two questions:
1. Can anyone confirm that that is still the planned cut-over date?
2. How many of you will be traveling on that day? (It's a Saturday)
Perhaps its an opportunity for the voucher collectors to book a 6-segment mileage run and hope for the worst.
1. Can anyone confirm that that is still the planned cut-over date?
2. How many of you will be traveling on that day? (It's a Saturday)
Perhaps its an opportunity for the voucher collectors to book a 6-segment mileage run and hope for the worst.
Jan 10, 2012, 6:57 pm
#337
Join Date: Aug 2010
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Jan 10, 2012, 7:09 pm
#338
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It gets exponentially more difficult once you reroute through a different hub (e.g., AUS-IAH-BOS, AUS-IAH delayed, now I'm going AUS-EWR-BOS), and even moreso when you change the number of segments (e.g., AUS-EWR, AUS-EWR delayed, now I'm going AUS-IAH-LGA).
EWR will be fine. The problems will be at ORD, DEN, IAD, SFO, and LAX where GAs and customers are accustomed to providing or receiving faster service due to better systems.
Jan 10, 2012, 7:32 pm
#339
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Awesome I have a flight on March 3, hopefully all will be well 
I remember the US/AMWEST integration a few years back when they were my primary carrier and their were a LOT of issues.
Given what were seeing lately with current computer issues (status, eua, etc) this date has me very worried.
I remember the US/AMWEST integration a few years back when they were my primary carrier and their were a LOT of issues.
Given what were seeing lately with current computer issues (status, eua, etc) this date has me very worried.
Jan 10, 2012, 7:33 pm
#340
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But you are saying that CO has more IDBs because of SHARES. And there is roughly the same amount of work required of the agent in both cases. So if that's the case, why?
If the work required of the agent is roughly the same then how is the system causing a trend towards one and not the other?
So it doesn't completely cause it, but it partly causes it? Again, how?
Or it doesn't actually cause the problems but you continue to repeat it ad nauseum anyways. For any particular reason?
Not SHARES
I'll call this completely policies since it has already been "established" here that any IRROPS rebooking on SHARES is horrible.
Not SHARES.
Which ones? Certainly none listed so far. And especially which ones are so bad that they make IDBs more likely than VDBs. Again, the GA has to do roughly the same amount of work.
Either it is part of the problem or it isn't. Either SHARES is contributing to the issues or this is fear mongering BS.
Which is it?
If the work required of the agent is roughly the same then how is the system causing a trend towards one and not the other?
Or it doesn't actually cause the problems but you continue to repeat it ad nauseum anyways. For any particular reason?
-generally offer poor rebooking alternatives (UA is happy to rebook you on any airline of your choice even non-star in under a minute, whereas CO generally tries to stick to themselves even if several days later). You could argue this is both policy and systems (part of the reason CO doesn't like to rebook on other carriers does relate to the difficulty of doing it)
-terrible volunteer experience (whereas united will generally tell you whether you're needed as the plane starts boarding, co has no clue until everyone has boarded and overheads are full; electronic vdb list isn't used so you really have to hover around the GA even more)
Which is it?
Jan 10, 2012, 7:34 pm
#341
Join Date: Aug 2010
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Year Rank Emplaned IDB/10K VBD/10K
2009 9 UA 50,971,409 1.30 16.05
2009 12 CO 37,524,185 1.57 10.10
2010 12 UA 48,711,205 1.27 12.47
2010 13 CO 36,682,772 1.82 8.89
2010* 9 UA 36,905,652 1.35 12.09
2010* 12 CO 27,462,416 1.94 9.44
2011* 12 UA 34,583,352 1.06 17.33
2011* 13 CO 29,042,201 1.61 8.18
*Jan-Sep
It is apparent that UA is more aggressive in overbooking flights to ensure 100% capacity but still has a lower rate of IDB's. This is due in part to UA's more sophisticated yield management hardware/software combination which will be retained going forward.
Jan 10, 2012, 7:39 pm
#342
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: USA
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Posts: 1,307
Based on the conversations I've had with CO agents, there is a big variance between type of rebook. A straight one-for-one is simpler (e.g., I misconnect to IAH-AUS, I take the next IAH-AUS).
It gets exponentially more difficult once you reroute through a different hub (e.g., AUS-IAH-BOS, AUS-IAH delayed, now I'm going AUS-EWR-BOS), and even moreso when you change the number of segments (e.g., AUS-EWR, AUS-EWR delayed, now I'm going AUS-IAH-LGA).
EWR will be fine. The problems will be at ORD, DEN, IAD, SFO, and LAX where GAs and customers are accustomed to providing or receiving faster service due to better systems.
It gets exponentially more difficult once you reroute through a different hub (e.g., AUS-IAH-BOS, AUS-IAH delayed, now I'm going AUS-EWR-BOS), and even moreso when you change the number of segments (e.g., AUS-EWR, AUS-EWR delayed, now I'm going AUS-IAH-LGA).
EWR will be fine. The problems will be at ORD, DEN, IAD, SFO, and LAX where GAs and customers are accustomed to providing or receiving faster service due to better systems.
Regarding ORD/DEN/IAD/SFO/LAX....another way to look at it is that there is now "exponentially"
more options for rebooking someone. Once the migration to a single PSS occurs...it is ALL online, and codeshare issues go away, and "out of synch" problems are reduced.................. "exponentially" 
Jan 10, 2012, 7:55 pm
#343
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 774
IDB still needs to be rebooked, but that can be done after the door closes (yes VDBs can be rebooked then, but most will want to know what the alternative flights are). The IDB will be also generally not get a choice about "how about nonstop CO tomorrow" whereas the VDB might not accept it (but would accept the nonstop on AS a couple of hours later, or perhaps a reroute through another hub on UA, or maybe a flight to another airport a couple of hours away by car, etc).
Remember the goal of the system isn't to make it possible to VDB (they can do it without a computer), but to make it more efficient/easier/faster. CO SHARES does negatively contribute toward VDB's (if you have doubts, try volunteering on both carriers. It's a night and day difference). However, of course this is not about blaming SHARES entirely - it's only one of many reasons (many of which are just policies).
Jan 10, 2012, 8:01 pm
#344
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And let's not even get into the part where we're not comparing SHARES to Apollo but still claiming one is worse than the other as though the comparisons were based on comparable data.
Jan 10, 2012, 8:14 pm
#345
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 774
My experiences have not been nearly that different. Maybe I'm just special.
And, yet, it is one of the primary claims that has been made, over and over again, about how awful SHARES is.
And let's not even get into the part where we're not comparing SHARES to Apollo but still claiming one is worse than the other as though the comparisons were based on comparable data.
And, yet, it is one of the primary claims that has been made, over and over again, about how awful SHARES is.
And let's not even get into the part where we're not comparing SHARES to Apollo but still claiming one is worse than the other as though the comparisons were based on comparable data.
My own personal fear of SHARES is general IRROPs (haven't read this entire thread end-to-end but I'd guess VDB is just one of many concerns). It takes more time to get things fixed (I have been on hold with CO for two hours while someone is working on my ticket) and many times with CO I get the feeling that someone wants to find some reason to not help me. Of course there are tons of other factors such as different cultures, staffing levels, reliance on computers versus humans, etc. Technology at least IMHO contributes signficantly to my experiences with any airline.
If VDB experience continues to be bad, I just won't volunteer. Time will tell how the rest of this shakes out.
Last edited by okrogius; Jan 10, 2012 at 8:38 pm